


My Dad's Rich, That's Great I Guess. Too Bad He's The Worst and My Life Is a Mess.

by ectofruitloop (melodyguardian)



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodyguardian/pseuds/ectofruitloop
Summary: What would you do if you found out some awful, life-altering news? No, the fact that you're half ghost is a DIFFERENT kind of awful, life-altering news. Danny isn't sure which news is worse. But one thing's for sure- Father's Day this year sure is going to be awkward.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters
Comments: 13
Kudos: 72





	1. The Birds and the Bees

**Author's Note:**

> I've been reading the Percy Jackson books and I felt inspired to write something in first person. Percy and his dad Poseidon really made me think about the bio dad!Vlad AU for some reason, so I decided to write a little something for fun. I might add more to this in the future. Maybe this'll end up being a series of father/son oneshots!

The air was thick with cold as I flew to Vlad Master’s mansion that evening. I didn’t know why I was doing this, honestly, but…I don’t know. Going to his place just felt…like the right thing to do for some reason. I knew I needed to do this. Vlad and I needed to talk.

I phased through the wall that I knew lead to his private study. If he wasn’t in bed, chances are, he’d be there. He was evil, but he had a day job too.

Sure enough, he was there, signing some boring business stuff. I watched him warily, hesitant to drop my invisibility for some reason.

He suddenly straightened up. I felt every muscle in my body stiffen. This was a bad idea. I should go. This was stupid. Why was I even doing this?

“What do you want, Daniel?” he sighed, looking in my general direction.

I hadn’t made a single sound. How did he know _exactly_ where I was? My ghost sense was _visible_ and I still couldn’t sense a ghost with that much accuracy. Beyond all the stupid cape swishing and evil monologues, I always forgot how badass he was with his powers. I stayed still, hoping he’d think he was just going crazy. I’d come here to see him, as weird as that was to admit, so why…why was I so afraid of him?

The man frowned and crossed his arms. “Daniel,” he said, sternly. “Show yourself.”

I instinctively turned visible, feeling like I was in trouble already. I straightened up, my heart banging so violently inside my chest that it felt like it wanted to escape just as badly as I did.

“Um…hi.” I tried a weak smile, but it fell almost immediately.

He raised an eyebrow and apparently took a moment to look me over. He was probably trying to figure out if I was here for a fight, which…okay, I get why he’d think that. The kid you fight almost once a week shows up out of the blue at like 7 at night and then makes himself invisible until you call him out on it? Yeah, it did sound kinda like I was up to something.

My legs feeling like ecto-jello (yes, that’s real, my parents created it themselves), I walked towards him and stopped in front of his desk, every muscle in my body stiff and ready to run out of there. But I wasn’t ready to do that. Or at least, not yet. I let the white rings travel around me as I kept eye contact with my former nemesis, a silent show of ‘I come in peace’.

As I waited for it to be done, I tried to figure out what the guy was thinking.

Vlad Masters was a proud guy. Dad told me once that he came from a kinda poor family, so he had to work his butt off to get a scholarship into the same college as him. He said Vlad was the only person he knew that was smart enough to pull it off. It’s always weird when Dad talks about their college days because it forces me to imagine a time before Vlad was a supervillain bent on revenge. He really had been just a normal bored college student once. I wondered if he’d ever fallen asleep during class or talked back to a teacher. Did he show signs of being a pompous asshole early on or did that come after the accident?

He was still staring at me and I took a tiny bit of joy in the fact he looked _really_ confused. When Vlad knew what he was doing, that’s when he was dangerous. He couldn’t use a situation to his advantage if he didn’t know the situation. We were gonna have a _real_ talk this time, not one of his stupid mind games.

As I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to convey that I was here for something important, I realised something- Vlad looked different than he usually did. Or I should say, being in his presence felt different. Being around him usually set me high on alert. Everything he did and said always felt like a trap aimed directly at me. He had this air of arrogance, of someone that was always one step ahead. Always planning something. But I’d caught him off-guard this time. The Vlad in front of me still had a lot of that, but…it was almost downplayed. The usual arrogance felt more like confidence now and it didn’t feel so much like he was plotting something as he stared at me, and more like…he was thinking. Figuring out what to make of me being here, maybe.

“Transforming back?” he suddenly asked, his voice calm and composed as ever, like he hadn’t just been staring at me like I had a second head. “Not up for a fight, my boy?”

“I…I don’t want a fight,” I managed to say, my voice quiet and raspy for some reason. “I didn’t come here for a fight.”

“Oh ho? Well _that’s_ certainly a new development.” _Who are you, Santa’s evil twin?_ I wanted to ask. I decided to keep my mouth shut. Now wasn’t the time for mockery. I watched as he threaded his fingers together. “Then just what are you _doing_ here? And so _late_?”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me. His eyes, the same sky blue as mine, were stubborn and tired-not unlike mine either to be honest- but there was also something else in them, something cold. Dark. Commanding. He wasn’t to be messed with and you’d immediately regret it if you did. He was looking at me with those eyes right now, and I found myself standing up straighter.

“I’m here t-to…to…” I dropped my gaze to the floor. I didn’t even know why I was here myself. I really should have thought this through. Jazz always said I was too impulsive for my own good.

There he was, _the_ Vlad Plasmius, trying to figure out if I was up to something, and…I was totally clamming up. Way to look suspicious, Danny.

I cleared my throat and looked up at him again, trying my best not to look totally freaked.

“I’m here because I know who you are,” I finally said, my voice as confident as I could make it, but still serious. This wasn’t like all the times I’d come here to mock him and kick his butt. I needed him to take this situation- to take _me-_ seriously.

“Well that’s specific,” he replied flatly. “To which identity are you referring? Masters or Plasmius? I wasn’t aware you had the memory of a goldfish, Daniel.”

I wanted to punch him. But I couldn’t. Not yet, at least.

I clasped my hands together. They were shaking.

“Y-you’re my birth dad, aren’t you?” I blurted out, way louder than I intended.

Well that got his attention. He immediately dropped the pen he was holding and straightened up. He didn’t say anything, so I found my mouth continuing on its’ own.

“You…don’t just want me as your son to get back at my Dad, do you?” I asked quietly. “You want me as your son because…” I took a deep breath. “…because I _am_ your son, right? A-and that could even explain why I have ghost powers. And why we have the same eye colour and…a-and…”

He slowly nodded. “You figured it out. I’m impressed.”

I stared at him. It was true, then. It was really true.

I fell onto the visitor’s chair, my legs not able to hold me up anymore apparently.

“Wow,” I mumbled. “I am _fucked_.”

He frowned. “ _Language_ , Daniel.”

“Sorry Dad,” I accidentally blurted out. Try not to judge me too much. I was dealing with a lot of emotions at the time.

He smirked at me.

Uh oh.

It was never good when he smirked.

“D-don’t get the wrong idea!” I added hurriedly, pointing at him. “Y-you’re not my dad! _Jack Fenton_ is my dad! He was…” I felt the colour drain from my face. “ _Shit_ , does he _know_?” Did everybody know? Was this just a big joke to them? Did Mom and Dad laugh at me behind my back? I felt anger bubble in my chest and green tint the corners of my vision. My eyes were glowing.

“Of course he doesn’t know,” Vlad replied. “He’s an idiot.” He pushed a cup of tea towards me. “Here, you can have this. I just brewed it.”

“I don’t want your TEA, old man! I want ANSWERS!” I curled my hands into fists. Pretty soon I was going to punch something

“And you’ll get them, but only after you _calm down_ , my boy.”

My boy.

Wow.

I guess I really _was_ his…boy.

My shoulders sunk and I sighed, taking the cup from him. I tried to ignore how smug he looked about it.

“Fine. I’ll drink your stupid tea.” I took an angry swig.

“Thank you.” I was looking at my lap now, but I could still hear the smirk in his voice. It was just my luck that my birth dad had to be _this_ asshole. Dad wasn’t perfect, but he was better than _Vlad_.

I swallowed the tea and I felt myself relax a bit. It was good tea.

“Alright, so, tell me how this…works.”

“How it…works?” he asked, like I’d just told a mildly funny joke. “How I met your mother, or would you like me to explain about the birds and the bees? I know it would be a good idea for us to make up for lost time, but surely you—”

“NO! Oh CLOCKWORK no! GROSS!!!”

One bottle of brain bleach please.

He laughed at me and my urge to punch his stupid face grew even more tempting.

“I just wanted to know why I never KNEW about you! And WHO knows! Not-not-EWW!!!” I slammed the teacup back onto the desk. It was empty. I hadn’t realised I’d drank so much.

Vlad tilted his head. “I didn’t know you favoured tea. I took you more for a…soda drinker.”

“Answer the damn question, fruitloop,” I demanded. I was really starting to lose my patience now.

He tutted. “Oh, so _rude_. You really should show your father some respect, Daniel.”

“You…YOU—” I stiffened. I shouldn’t have been surprised he was already playing the dad card. The fact I actually respected this asshole was a bigger mystery to me than how ghosts were a thing.

He crossed his arms and looked at me sternly. He wasn’t going to talk until I gave him what he wanted apparently. I scowled.

“I’m sorry… _Father_.” I accidentally shuddered. I looked up at Vlad hopefully, but he just raised a judgemental eyebrow. This was the literal worst. I should have just gone to Mom for this. I cleared my throat and tried again, speaking louder this time. “I’m sorry, _Father_.”

“There, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

I hope you choke on a fruitloop, fruitloop.

He shifted a little in his overly fancy desk chair and then clasped his hands together.

“Alright, to put it simply, I had no idea you even _existed_ ,” he began. “What happened between your mother and I was fleeting at best. As you may recall, Jack tried to kill me with the ghost portal and I was-“

“He didn’t TRY to kill you!” I glared, standing up. “It was an _accident_!”

“Yes, well, regardless, it meant I was hospitalised for quite a while. Don’t interrupt.”

I crossed my arms.

Okay, so, as it turns out, Vlad doesn’t tell stories all that quickly. He really likes to drag it out for drama. So I’ll just explain it myself.

What happened (or what he _says_ happened anyway) was, after he got out of the hospital, he met with my mom to see how she was doing and stuff and…at the risk of reliving those mental images, mom cheated on my dad. On Jack, I mean. Apparently, their relationship wasn’t the easiest at first. That part was true, at least. I remember Jazz telling me they used to yell a lot. Anyway, so, obviously, Mom must have gotten pregnant after that and had me, and she was probably so ashamed she cheated on Jack that she decided not to say anything. When Vlad discovered I had powers during the reunion, he talked to Mom alone, and she admitted she faked my birth certificate. She made him promise not to say anything, and he agreed because he’s got a mad crush on her.

How was _Mom_ the bad guy here?

I looked up at Vlad, unsure what to say. If all this was actually true, then…

“So I’m not just a freak of nature as a _half ghost_. I’m also a _mistake_. Awesome.” I smiled bitterly. I was trying to be sarcastic, but my voice was shaking too much. “N-nothing makes you feel _more_ like you belong than your parents _literally_ admitting they never wanted you. S-super.” I held my hand up in a thumbs up and then let it fall.

I was tired, in all senses of the word.

Vlad sighed. “Oh, I’m sure she _wanted_ you. She just didn’t want you to share _my_ DNA.” He crossed his arms. I’d never seen him look so down and uncomfortable before. “And if it’s any consolation, _I_ wanted you. Believe it or not, I was…well I was rather excited when I found out to tell you the truth,” he admitted, speaking way faster than normal. Maybe I was imagining it, but it really felt like he was trying to get whatever he had to say over with. Like he was embarrassed or something. He really didn’t like admitting he had a heart. Maybe it had something to do with his whole supervillain schtick. “I…” He sighed, doing everything he could to avoid my eyes. Right now, he’d settled on examining the pen he’d picked up again. “Don’t misunderstand me, you’re a _pest_ and you _constantly_ get in my way, but I’m not… _ashamed_ of the person you’ve become. Jack could have done much worse raising you.”

A smile grew on my face. I turned it into a smirk.

“It’s okay, Vlad. You can say you’re proud of me.”

“Fine.” He put the pen down and looked me dead in the eyes, icy blue to icy blue. He looked so serious, I felt myself hold in my breath and my smirk fall. “Regardless of how much our points of views differ, please know that…that I’m proud of you.” He massaged his forehead like he had a headache all of a sudden. “I still fail to understand why you would choose to play superhero so much, but you fight for what you believe in, and…I suppose that’s something I can respect.”

I…had no idea what to say.

I knew I shouldn’t care. The guy fought me on a regular basis. He tried to break my family apart on multiple occasions. He deliberately made things harder for me, like turning Valerie into his personal ghosthunter. I should tell him where he can shove his pride and respect because I didn’t want or need it. I should go ghost and waste him for acting like he’s the good guy in all this. I should throw tea in his face _at least_.

So what _did_ I do, after he said all that?

The answer was _nothing_.

I just…stood there. Like an idiot.

He frowned a bit. “You? Lost for words? Impossible.”

“Wh-what?” I blinked some tears out of my eyes and cleared my throat. “U-uh, sorry. Um.” I rubbed my eyes. I felt…weird. My birth dad, who I hadn’t even known for sure was my birth dad until a few minutes ago, had just…told me he was proud of me. Was this…the first time someone’s ever said they were proud of me? I thought about it. Jazz had probably said it at some point, but my parents? No, they still thought I was a screw up.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. Don’t cry in front of _Vlad_ , oh my god, I told myself. You’d literally never live it down.

The smart thing to do would be to say I was gonna be late for curfew and get the hell out of there. But…

I found myself sitting back down on the visitor’s chair.

“You got any more tea?” I asked, stretching my legs a bit.

Vlad raised his eyebrows. “Did you have something else you wanted to talk to me about?”

Of course I did. I wanted to tell him that him being my bio dad didn’t mean I suddenly liked him. I wanted to say that none of this erases all the bad stuff he’s done to me and my family up til this point. I wanted to tell him just how hurt and angry and exhausted all this made me. I wanted to know why he attacked me so much if he knew I was his son. I wanted to make him promise to stop trying to kill Jack. I wanted to know if he was okay if I just called him Vlad because the ‘father’ thing felt kind of weird and unnatural.

Eventually, all I came out with was:

“What was college like?”

He blinked. “Excuse me?”

I made an amused noise. It was fun catching him off-guard.

“Tell me what your classes were like and stuff,” I explained. “Did you ever get in trouble? What did you major in?”

“Oh, well, I…” He picked up the pen again and twirled it around in his fingers as he thought about my questions. “It’s not a very interesting answer, but I majored in Business Studies. I was given the chance to finish my degree once I got out of the hospital, you see. While I was finishing that, I took on another major, something that had piqued my interest while I was bedridden. Classical Studies.”

I leaned forward eagerly. “Ooh, what’s that? Like, instruments? Violins and stuff?” I pictured him listening to Mozart or something on Spotify while he laid in bed. Wait, was Spotify even a thing when he was in hospital? The grey hair made it hard for me to figure out just how old the guy was.

“No, not quite.” He chuckled. It was…a warm kind of chuckle. I’d never heard it before. I kinda liked it. “It’s the study of Roman and Greek myths, mostly, but in their original languages. I think you would have enjoyed the subject. A lot of the myths involve powerful beings, valiant heroes and evil monsters, not unlike the comic book heroes you like so much. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some inspiration there.”

I gasped. “Oh _awesome_! Like Hercules and stuff?”

He nodded. “Indeed. Though the Greeks call him _Heracles._ He was only one of _many_ legendary heroes told about in those myths.”

That was so…interesting? I really hadn’t expected that. Who knew Vlad was so interested in superheroes and stuff? I said as much, and he rolled his eyes at me.

“I’m not interested in _superheroes_ , Daniel. It was the _gods_ that interested me the most- powerful otherworldly beings that could create and destroy with the snap of their fingers. They abused their powers for all manner of reasons, most for personal gain or revenge. It was what gave me the idea to use mine for the same.” He snapped his fingers and his eyes flashed, red and dangerous.

“You’re not a _god_ , Vlad,” I reminded him bluntly.

“Well, not _yet_ ,” he joked. Or at least, I _think_ he was joking. I really hoped he was.

“Power is overrated,” I replied with a yawn. “I had the kind of power you’re talking about once. It…wasn’t pretty.” I grimaced, images of my evil future self flooding my mind. That was happening a lot lately. “It ended with everyone…mm, nope.” I shook my head. I couldn’t think about that right now. One problem at a time, Fenton.

“What _are_ you talking about?” he asked suspiciously. “When could you have _possibly_ …?”

“I changed my mind. I’m not talking about this. I get enough nightmares about it as it is.”

“You’re having nightmares?” He clasped his hands together, like he was thinking about something…or plotting something.

Shit. I forgot who I was talking to.

“No, it’s fine, it’s whatever, look I don’t wanna talk about it.” I ran a hand down my face stressfully. “It was just a buncha time travel mumbo jumbo. Typical Tuesday.”

My brain reminded me of future Vlad. Alone, miserable, regretful…I’d promised him a second chance, and I’d wanted to give it to him, too. Did he know I was his son back then too? He must have. And he had to _watch_ as my ghost half…as my ghost half…

I must have looked freaked out because Vlad put a hand on my shoulder like he was worried or something.

I immediately shrugged it off.

“Look, can we…can we… _not_ do this right now?” I all but pleaded. “Like, okay, I get it, you’re my bio dad, but, like…” I lowered my gaze to the floor. “I haven’t even talked about this stuff to _Jazz_ , so I’m _definitely_ not gonna talk about it with you.” Anger bubbling up inside of me, I looked up at him again, my eyes narrowed distrustfully. “You might be my…birth dad, but this doesn’t change anything. You’re still the guy that wants to kill the man that raised me, you’re still the guy that beats me up every other week, you’re still the guy that’s a LITERAL supervillain! Stop acting like you care about me! You DON’T!”

“Of course I care about you,” he replied, frowning like he was offended. What bull.

“You _do_?” I asked, a bitter chuckle coming out of my throat. “Oh, that’s funny, because, and correct me if I’m wrong here, haven’t you tried to kill me on _multiple_ occasions? Or am I just _imagining_ the ghost animals you sent after me? The box you _trapped_ _me_ _in_ while you overshadowed Jack? And the ghost weapons you gave my friend so she could _hunt me down_? Oh, and of course, we _can’t_ forget all the times you _BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME_ AND _LAUGHED_!” My eyes were glowing again. I didn’t care. I stood up.

“I was never trying to _beat you up_!” He snapped. “I was simply trying to _train you_! You wouldn’t accept _formal_ training, so it was the best I could do! Do you think I WANT to hear from your parents that you _perished_ from a ghost attack, or god forbid, one of _their_ weapons? I was helping you learn to _fight!_ ”

“Well I don’t NEED your help, fruitloop!” I yelled back. “I was doing FINE on my own!” The white rings travelled up my body. “You know what? I’m done with this. I shouldn’t have come here. Birth dad or not, you’re the _bad guy_. You _made_ that choice. Now you get to LIVE WITH IT!”

With that, I turned intangible and marched out of the room using the nearest wall. If Vlad said anything else, I didn’t hear it. I didn’t want to.


	2. Nobody Listens To Me, They Never Listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, the secret's finally out. Danny finally knows his mother's deep dark secret. But he can't avoid her forever. What'll happen when he finally has to talk to her? It goes about as well as you'd think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My hand slipped and I wrote a part/chapter 2! Enjoy! :D Comments are greatly appreciated!

I got in a fight with Mom. I’d like to say it was over stupid teen stuff, and it did start out that way, but she happened to say exactly the wrong thing when I needed to hear it the least, so…everything kind of exploded.

Well, not literally, but…I would have preferred that.

I’d just got back from patrol, an hour late because, as usual, none of the ghosts respect my curfew. I unlocked the door and, just when I thought I could sneak into my room unseen, the lounge light switched on. My mom was on the couch, glaring at me like I’d just told her about that tattoo Tuck convinced me to get. I have no idea where Dad was. Sleeping, probably. That was probably for the best.

“Where have you been, young man?” she asked, her tone ice cold, like she had _any_ right to be mad at me. If it wasn’t for the whole secret identity thing, I totally would have gone invisible and locked myself in my room.

“I got held up. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” The response was practically rehearsed at the point. This was so typical. My parents never paid any attention to me unless they could lay another stupid lecture on me about ‘responsibility’ or whatever. I sighed internally. Let’s just get this over with.

“But it _will_ happen again, won’t it?” She crossed her arms. “You’ve been doing this for months. Your curfew isn’t a _suggestion_ , Danny. We gave it to you on the assumption that we could trust you to keep it. Just _what_ are you doing out so late that you’re willing to break it so often?”

Okay, look, before you judge me too much for my reply, please remember that this woman ruined our family. I’d been avoiding her ever since I learnt the truth from Vlad. I was still so mad about it, I knew the first thing I would say to her when I saw her would be about this secret…the secret I’m not supposed to know anything about. And now, here she was, after all the lying and manipulating, sat here, expecting me to feel bad for such a stupid thing, to do what she said like she deserved even a _tiny bit_ of my respect. In some ways, she was worse than Vlad, because at least Vlad _knew_ he was a supervillain. Mom still thought she was one of the good guys. I balled my hands into fists, that thought making my temperature rise.

“Everyone has their secrets, Mom,” I replied stiffly. “It runs in the family.”

She frowned at me. “What secrets? You’re…” Her eyes widened. “Are you doing _drugs_?!”

“What? NO!” I glared at her. “Why do you _always_ expect the worst from me?”

“Danny, dangerous people hang around town at night! Who knows if-“

“What if I was helping at an animal shelter or something?” I snapped, my heart starting to pound in my chest. This wasn’t fair. No matter what I did, Mom always made me feel like a disappointment. “What if I was walking Tuck home from the arcade so he wouldn’t get beat up?” I continued. “What if I just FELL ASLEEP? Why is your first guess _DRUGS_?!”

“Don’t you take that tone with me, young man. Don’t make me get your father,” she replied in her favourite you’re-in-big-trouble voice. “What happened to you Danny? You used to be such a good boy. Where did this… _attitude_ come from?”

“Why don’t you ask my _father_?” I spat, the words coming out of my mouth before I could stop them. “You know what? Yeah. Go _get_ my father. He’s a busy guy. I’m sure he’s still awake. It might take you kind of a _while_ to get to Wisconsin, though.”

She stared at me, eyes wide. I’d caught her off-guard. All the stiffness in her face gave way, her eyes going wide with something that looked almost like fear. She clearly hadn’t expected to ever be found out, least of all by me. It sounds terrible, but that felt kinda good. I looked her dead in the eyes, all my self-control going into making sure my eyes didn’t glow.

“What…are you talking about?” she asked, her voice soft and trembling. Anyone would think she was face-to-face with a ghost or something. Pfft.

“I think you know the answer to that, Mom.” I crossed my arms. “I’m not stupid. Did ya think I wouldn’t notice? That I’d never figure it out?”

“There’s…” She fixed her posture to be more intimidating. It only kind of worked. “There’s nothing to figure out. Go to your room. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” I replied sarcastically. “That should be _plenty_ of time to come up with a believable lie. After all, there’s no reason you should tell me the _actual_ truth, right?” A bitter chuckle escaped my throat.

“Danny, it’s not as simple as…that,” she whispered.

Why was she…oh. Right. She didn’t want anyone else to overhear. My heart felt like it was being flattened by the Fenton Ghost RV. This was why she always treated me like I was trouble. She was _ashamed_ of me.

“I was going to tell you, I promise I was, but when you were older,” she continued. “I’m not exactly _proud_ of what happened. Do you think I _want_ to remember being with… Vlad?” She pulled a disgusted face, and for the first time ever, I felt offended on Vlad’s behalf. “You know as well as I do that Vlad is bad news. He doesn’t think about anyone but himself. You really want to call _him_ your father?”

I stared at her for a long minute, a million thoughts going through my head. As typical of me, my mouth focussed on the least important out of all of them.

“You should stop leading him on, Mom. The only reason he never said anything was because he’s into you, and I think you know that.” I took a step back towards the door. “What you did was…not cool.”

“Danny, I didn’t-I’m not…“ She trailed off, frowning like she was disappointed in me again. Why? Because I’d figured out her dirty secret? Or because I, understandably, thought what she did was gross and wrong? “We’ll talk about this tomorrow morning. I don’t know how you found all this out, but I get the feeling Vlad had a part in this. Danny, you really shouldn’t listen to him. I’m sure he told you his side of the story, but-“

That’s when I stopped listening.

She wasn’t giving me any new information or apologizing for lying, so for a whole five minutes, I just stood there and waited for her to be done.

…

Oh, would you look at that. She was still going, but it seemed like all she was doing now was putting the blame on Vlad.

I checked the time on my phone.

Why was I doing this? She wasn’t going to tell me anything, and she definitely wasn’t going to tell Jazz or Dad anything, so why was I even here? At some point, she was bound to remember I was in trouble and ground me or whatever. I didn’t have to wait around for that.

“And another thing! I know he’ll SAY I seduced him, but what ACTUALLY-“

“MOM!”

Her eyes widened.

“Yes?” She looked at me hopefully.

I looked her in the eyes. Her purple eyes were looking into mine, desperate and sad. I knew right away what she wanted from me. She wanted me to tell her that all this happened in the past and didn’t matter anymore. She wanted me to promise I wouldn’t tell anyone her secret. She wanted me to say I didn’t need Vlad in my life because Dad was a way better dad that Vlad would have been. She wanted me to forget all this and let things go back to the way they were before I found out all this.

But you know what?

For once, I was okay with being a disappointment.

“Mom...blame Vlad all ya want, but…” I steeled my expression. “It takes _two_ people to make a kid.” I turned to the door and pulled it open again.

“Danny, wait! We should _talk_ about this! Where are you going?!”

“I’m gonna…go for a walk or something. Clear my head a bit. Don’t wait up.”

I let out a sigh as the cool night air smacked me in the face. Behind me, I could hear Mom shouting for me to stop, to wait for her to explain some more, but…I was tired. I couldn’t deal with this tonight. I shut the door behind me. She really thought I was going to just take her word for it and go to bed, like I didn’t do enough lying myself to recognise it in other people. She really thought I was that stupid. I sighed again.

So that’s how I ended up on the roof of the Nasty Burger, eating a Double Meaty Melt.

What? I was upset, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t _hungry_.

I suddenly became aware of the whistle of material flapping in the breeze behind me, followed by a couple sharp footsteps. I knew who it was before I even heard him speak.

“Isn’t it passed your bedtime, Little Badger?”

I rolled my eyes. Awesome. The _second_ person I’d been avoiding. What was this, a parent-teacher conference?

“Shoulda known you’d show your face, old man,” I grumbled, taking an angry bite of my burger. “If you’re here to give me a lecture, then you can save your breath. I’ve already had one in person _and_ over text.” I swallowed some food and held up my phone, scrolling down quickly. There were at least fifteen separate messages from Mom, all from about five minutes ago. The woman types _fast_.

Vlad made an amused noise and sat down beside me. “Don’t be too hard on her. She’s always been a worrier. I assume that only got worse when she became a parent.”

My shoulders slumped. Mom did worry a lot, and I’d just walked out at 11 at night without saying where I was going or anything. She didn’t know I could fight. She was probably having a full-on panic attack right about now. I leaned a fist against my cheek glumly. Maybe she was right to be disappointed in me.

“Did she call you?” I asked, taking another bite of my burger, though this time I ate it more mournfully. It didn’t taste as good anymore, somehow.

“She did, though I assured her you just needed a little space. Then she threatened to burn my castle down if I didn’t, as she so eloquently put it, _‘put my stupid amount of money to good use’_.” He shook his head, smiling. “I have no idea what she expected Vlad Masters could realistically do about this situation. Bribe you, I suppose?”

“Or find me using a space satellite. Or hire a bounty hunter. Or track my phone.” I smirked a little. “Why do I get the feeling you’ve already tried a lot of that?”

He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t need a satellite to know you’d be at your favourite eatery after a conversation like that. You come here a lot with your friends. It’s likely a great source of comfort for you.”

“And you know that because…?”

“I’m not sure you realise how much Skulker spies on you,” he replied, like what we were talking about was just a fun joke and not a total invasion of privacy. “He keeps tabs on you for me if I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

…of course he does. What _else_ would I expect from Mr Creep and Mr Creepier?

“That’s not okay, dude. Only a _literal_ fruitloop would think that’s okay.”

“Yes, how dare I care about your wellbeing. What _was_ I thinking?” He had the nerve to roll his eyes at me.

“Yes! Exactly!” I felt my anger starting to bubble up again. “That’s so CREEPY! Who the hell do you think you are? You think just ‘cause you’re my dad you can do whatever you want?!“

I froze.

He was my dad.

I wasn’t just yelling at my fruitloop arch-nemesis anymore.

I was yelling at my _dad._

I took a deep breath. I wasn’t doing this. I’d already had a fight with one parent today. I didn’t want to fight another one, even if he deserved it. I lowered my hands, which I hadn’t realised I’d raised into fists.

“I didn’t _have_ to come all the way out here and look for you, you know.” Vlad’s voice was cold with controlled anger. It was somehow way scarier than if he was actually shouting. “Do you think I _want_ to be on the roof of a fast food restaurant, ten o’clock at night, trying to reason with an ungrateful brat?”

_Well you’re lonely as heck and it was your crush that asked you to, so…yeah. Probably._

I didn’t say that, though. Even _I_ knew better than that.

“Who said being my parent would be easy?” I joked lightly. I thought it would ease the tension a bit.

I was wrong.

Yikes. If looks could kill…

“Okay, look, you said you care about me, right?” I put my burger down and straightened up. “You _did_ say that last time, right? I’m not imagining it?”

He nodded slightly, still glaring at me. “Get to the point, boy.”

Note to self: don’t forget Father’s Day.

“Right.” I nodded firmly. At the end of the day, Vlad was a businessman. Maybe all I needed to get through to him was to talk in his language. “Then let’s make a deal. You give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want. Everybody wins.”

He raised an eyebrow. I apparently had his attention. I waited for him to speak, like say something condescending or whatever, but he didn’t, so I continued.

“Okay, so, let’s ignore for a sec how creepy spying on me is. If what you say is true, then I’m gonna guess you wish you could see me more often? You live all the way in Wisconsin and those evil plots must take forever to organise, so, yeah, I get why it takes a while for us to see each other face-to-face sometimes.”

Another nod.

“Okay,” I continued, some stress leaking out of my voice. Why wasn’t he reacting? What was I doing wrong? “So how about we make a deal: you don’t spy on me anymore, and I’ll agree to visit you, like, once a week or something. I can tell you about my week and stuff. Sound good?”

He nodded again.

“Oh my god _please_ say something. Your silence is _killing_ me, man.”

“You’re already partially dead, Daniel,” he finally replied.

“Vlad! Come ooooon! I’m really _trying_ here!” I cringed. I sounded like a whining little kid.

“I know. You’re trying to use your brains over your fists for possibly the first time in your life. I’m just in shock.” He didn’t even bother to hide the amusement in his voice. Was I a joke to him?

I scowled and took another bite of my burger. It was cold by now, but I was still hungry, so I didn’t care.

“I accept your terms,” he said after a moment. I just about choked on my burger.

“Y-you will?” I asked, punching my chest to get the burger to dislodge itself from my throat.

“Yes. On one condition.”

Um. What.

“You can’t add terms to _my_ terms, Vlad.”

“You never stated otherwise in your deal. Exact wording is very important, you know.” He grinned.

I rolled my eyes, but honestly, I was just glad he wasn’t mad anymore. I’d managed to avoid that for now.

“Alright, what do you want?”

“For you to _go home_.” He gave me a serious look. “Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“I do, and I will, but…” I sighed and looked up at the night sky. The stars were so visible tonight. They helped dull the sinking feeling of dread that was growing in the pit of my stomach. I hadn’t been looking forward to this part of our conversation. “Don’t make me go home. Not yet.”

“I’m sure your mother won’t punish you too much when you return.” To his credit, it really did sound like he was trying to be reassuring. “My guess is, she’ll be too relieved you’ve returned safely to stay angry for very long.”

That wasn’t really what I was worried about, and I told him as much as I hugged my knees to my chest.

“Mom’s yelled at me for a lotta things, but I’ve never…been that angry at _her_ before,” I admitted quietly. “What I said wasn’t _nearly_ as bad as the kinda stuff I was _thinking_ of saying.” I looked up at him and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Vlad…I think I’m a bad person.”

“Oh, nonsense.” I blinked, caught off-guard. He’d said it so quickly and with so much confidence that I almost believed him. “You learnt some life-changing news that was being purposefully kept from you, and from your own mother no less. You’re entitled to feeling angry about that.” He offered me a bitter smile. “Betrayal isn’t a great feeling, is it, boy?”

I felt a painful chill stab at my heart. He was right. This _was_ a betrayal.

“What kind of dumbass gets betrayed by their own _mother_?” I muttered.

Vlad chuckled. It was that warm chuckle I’d heard the last time we’d talked. I didn’t get to hear it a lot because a lot of his chuckles were either pompous or evil whenever I was involved. This one was different. It sounded like…fondness, I guess. Or genuine amusement.

Against my better judgement, I shifted a little closer to him.

He raised his eyebrows and, after a moment of what looked like silent deliberating, draped his big vampire cape around me. For some reason that I still don’t understand, I decided not to say anything. I was probably just cold.

“Regardless, feeling anger or bitterness towards someone doesn’t make you a bad person,” he said, his expression serious as he clearly tried to hide how pleased he was that I hadn’t moved. His voice was a bit too cheery-sounding to really pull that off, though.

“I mean, yeah, that on its’ own doesn’t make you a bad person, but…” My forehead creased. “After that whole incident with time travel-“ I looked at him seriously. “-which I am _still_ not gonna talk to you about, by the way-“

Vlad rolled his eyes, but let me continue.

“-I’m more aware than ever just how easy it is to go from a brave hero to an evil bad guy. I’m…I’m worried this is gonna be the thing that pushes me over the edge. Seeing Mom so mad made feel…good. That isn’t okay. Good guys don’t get happy when other people are sad. It’s just not a thing.”

Vlad sighed, the sound every bit as disappointed as Mom’s you’re-in-trouble tone. I half expected him to ground me.

“Do you know what your biggest problem is, my boy?”

I’m a disappointment? I suck at English Lit? I have to fight ghosts everyday and it’s ruining my life? I was curious which Vlad would pick, so I didn’t say any of this out loud.

“You have one _very obnoxious_ fatal flaw,” he explained. “You act as a superhero, so you see the world as if it belongs in one of your comic books.”

I frowned. “No I don’t?”

“Yes you do. You should hear the way you talk when we fight.” He smiled, amused, and shook his head, before going back to being serious again. “There _are_ no ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ in real life, Daniel. Everyone in this world is just as capable of doing bad things as they are of doing good. Take your mother for example. She helps create weapons to rid this town of evil ghosts. Would you agree that that’s something a ‘good guy’ would do?”

I nodded seriously because, well, _duh_. Where was he going with this?

“Right. But, oh, would you look at that, she has the narrow worldview that all ghosts are evil, and thus tries to hunt, destroy and experiment on _all_ of them on-sight, regardless of the ghost’s moral standing. That isn’t something a ‘good guy’ would typically do, is it?”

“Uh…no. I guess not…?” I’d never thought about it that way. “But what has that got to do with the-”

“The point I’m trying to make here is that nothing can just ‘turn’ you evil. You’re a good person, and that will persist, even if you were ever under mind control or something else of the sort. To become evil would mean you would become heartless, and that, my boy-“ He put a hand on the top of my head. “-just isn’t in your nature. I don’t think you ever have to worry much about that.”

I didn’t reply. All I could really do was stare up at him. Between the warm cape draped over me and the way Vlad, my _birth dad,_ was being so uncharacteristically gentle and affectionate, I felt weirdly…comforted. I almost didn’t want to move in case the spell would be broken and this feeling would go away.

I felt…better? Holy crap. What kind of warped reality had I ended up in?

What happened next, I barely registered I was doing until it was too late to back out.

I’d pulled him into a hug.

Vlad stiffened, probably concerned this was another trick, like in Colorado. I mean…fair. It was a pretty dirty trick on my part.

Once I realised what I was doing, I immediately wanted to let go of him and act like I slipped or something, but he ruined it like he ruins everything. The jerkwad hugged me back, and it was such a good hug that my resolve totally crumbled.

“This doesn’t mean I like you,” I muttered as I let him pet my hair like I was a god damn cat.

“Right. Of course.” I couldn’t see him anymore because my eyes were closed, but I could hear the warm smile in his voice. He sounded…happy. Happier than I think I’d ever heard him.

We stayed like that for a little bit, not really talking, just…being in each other’s company. It was easy to forget he was usually bent on revenge when he was being so nice.

Oh, but that was still a thing.

“Hey, Dad?” I said, my voice quiet because I was seriously on my way to dozing off if I wasn’t careful.

“Hmm?” He looked down at me. He still looked like he was in a good mood, so I took a risk.

“Can you do me a solid and not do any evil plots this week? I gotta study. Finals are coming up.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What, you think _one_ hug is enough to get me to drop everything I’ve been planning for an _entire_ month?”

I sighed and let go of him. “Whatever. It was worth a shot. There has to be _some_ perks to being your kid. Why can’t favouritism be one of them?”

“I’m literally a billionaire,” he reminded me, standing up. “Why can’t you be like a normal fourteen year old boy, asking for expensive material possessions instead?”

“My parents just didn’t raise me that way, I guess.” I shrugged. “Anyway, I think I’m gonna head home, but…” I rubbed my neck awkwardly. “Thanks for…listening to me. You’re not the…” I cringed. “You’re not the _worst_ dad ever. But don’t let that get to your head.”

“Too late.” He grinned, his fangs on full display. “You think I’m a good father. You said that. You can’t take that back.”

“ _No_ , I said you’re _not the worst_.” I rolled my eyes and got up, picking up what remained of my food.

“You and I both know that’s the same thing.”

“Is NOT!”

“It mostly certainly is.”

“Ugh, BYE Vlad.”

“Until next time, son.”

I floated up and began my flight back home. He was so lame. I couldn’t really shake my smile though.

Just as I was about to go up to the door to FentonWorks, my phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket to find one unread message.

_I will allow you ONE ghost-free week. Don’t expect this to become a regular occurrence, Daniel._

I felt my smile grow.

“Whatever you say, fruitloop,” I said out loud, before pushing open the front door.


	3. Of Course, Being Alive is Temporary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny's in trouble. He's made the worst mistake he's ever made-well, worse mistake since stepping foot into that ghost portal, at least. And he's about to make another one. Fortunately, his birth dad is here to help him fix his mistake. Unfortunately...his birth dad is here to help him fix his mistake. Is there a limit to how many mistakes one person can make before they completely run out of luck?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!! :D HOO BOY this one took a while! I don't really know why, but I had such difficulty with this one. I'm really happy how it finally turned out, though! Danny and Vlad are super fun to write as always. I'm really enjoying developing their relationship! This chapter came out pretty long, but I hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> Kudos are greatly appreciated as always, and I really love reading your reviews! :D

Black…blue…white… 

That was all I could see. I’d never felt pain like this, not even when I’d had to use up my life force to fight Pariah Dark. But more than the agonising physical pain, my chest felt like it was being crushed, like that Atlas guy from the Greek myths. 

…Yes I’d read up a bit on the Greek myths since my last conversation with Vlad. It’s really interesting. Shut up. 

My vision was dark and getting darker as I phased through a wall. I wasn’t sure I was going the right way, but I was in too much pain to think straight. I didn’t have a lot of time. 

Five minutes until I died for real if I was lucky. Sixty seconds if I wasn’t. 

“Daniel? What on earth-” 

Oh thank Clockwork. 

I fell to my knees as something warm and pungent dripped down my arm. 

“Father…” I managed to say, looking up at him as best I could as the burning pain stretched from my arm to the rest of me. “H-help…” 

Then, I felt my entire body get heavy all at once and my vision finally gave out to pitch blackness. 

*** 

Waking up felt…weird. For one thing, I was way too comfy. The last thing I remembered, I’d planted face-first into the floor. But where was I? I remembered…well, not a lot. 

My eyes still blurry, but the normal kind of blurry, I slowly sat up, blinking slowly as I looked around. Everything looked pretty normal. Red carpet, big wooden desk, one giant portrait of- 

“Aughh!” I jolted and put my hand on my thumping chest. “Ah, jeez, I forgot how _creepy_ those things are,” I muttered. “Get _over_ yourself, fruitloop , _jeez_ …” 

“You just about died, so I think I’ll pretend I _didn’t_ hear that blatant show of disrespect,” came a pompous voice from the direction of the desk. 

“Aughh!” I yelled again, twisting to face him. “F-Father! I, um, I didn’t, I mean-” 

“Save it, boy.” He put his pen down and stared me down, his voice commanding, but quiet. I immediately got the sense he wasn’t having a good day. I wasn’t entirely sure that wasn’t my fault. “Let me guess, you got into _another_ unnecessary fight with a ghost? Stuck your nose where it didn’t belong _yet again_? You’re very good at that.” 

“N-NO! I-my fights aren’t _unnecessary_! I’m helping people, I’m-“ 

I stood up and instantly regretted it. There was ‘dizzy’, and then there was…whatever this was. Trying my best not to throw up on Vlad’s perfect fancy carpet, I sat back down. 

“What did you do to me? Why do I feel so…” I looked down at my arm, which I now realised felt tight. It was wrapped in some kind of material, like gauze or something. But why would I have- 

That crushing pain in my chest returned. 

“Oh.” 

“Oh indeed.” Vlad clasped his hands together, still staring me down. I shifted uncomfortably. Why did I feel like he was gonna take away my allowance for a week? “Are you going to tell me what happened? I don’t have all day, Daniel.” 

“I _know_ , you’re a busy guy, ya don’t have to-“ I cut myself off with a sigh. Making him mad when I felt this weak wasn’t a good idea. “Okay, look, it wasn’t a ghost that attacked me. It was…well, it was…Mom.” My voice got quieter against my will. This was hard to admit out loud. I was proving to Vlad I was every bit the stupid kid he thought I was. “She was saying all this stuff about trust and…I don’t know. I thought maybe I should…m-maybe I should…” 

“Daniel, you didn’t…?” 

I flinched. His sympathy felt worse than if he’d actually tried to attack at me. 

“I went ghost, and suddenly she didn’t wanna talk, she grabbed the nearest gun and…” I hugged myself. “It hurt so _bad_. That wasn’t a normal gun, was it?” 

“I’m afraid not.” His chair creaked as he sat back in it. “Somehow, that gun fired something that I have not seen in a very long time- venom, a type that can only be extracted from a very rare ghost plant. I can’t imagine how she must have gotten a hold of such a thing, but the idea of using it as ammunition for a _weapon_ ?” He whistled. “That woman is _so_ smart.” 

“Father,” I said flatly, looking up at him. “That thing nearly killed me.” 

“I am aware.” He made a shooing motion with his hand. “But not to worry. It would have destroyed an ordinary ghost from the inside, but your human half kept you alive long enough for me to extract it. You’re fine. You’ll live.” 

“Good.” I sighed again. At least I got _some_ good news out of this. And hey, my dad had selflessly saved my life, so that was neat. “That gun is seriously dangerous. We need to do something so she won’t use it again. On me, more specifically.” 

“I’m sorry, ‘we’?” Vlad shook his head. “I’m sorry Daniel, but this is on you. It’s not my job to get you out of trouble, even if I am your father. You created this mess with your own stupidity. Now you have to clean it up.” 

“HEY!” I stood up quickly. I was pleased to find I could finally do that now. “C’mon, that’s not fair! I need you! I can’t fix this by myself! She’ll KILL me!” 

“Oh ho, you _need_ me, do you?” Ugh of _course_ that’s the part he focussed on. Never mind the _death_ part. “Need me to do _what_ , exactly?” 

“To…to…I don't know, pay someone or bribe someone or talk to her or...I DON’T KNOW!” My voice was getting high-pitched and desperate now, but I was running out of options. “Talk to Mom! She hates you but you're still stupid rich! She’ll listen to you! She HAS to!” I marched up to his desk and slammed my hands on it. “Come ON! What happened to the guy from the roof of the Nasty Burger? Don’t you even CARE? Why are you being so SELFISH?!” 

He stood up, and I swear to Clockwork, I was sure he was going to waste me right then and there. His eyes weren’t red like they were when he was _really_ angry, but that didn’t make me feel any better. He opened his mouth and a chill shot down my spine. Not because I was scared or anything, though. Of course not. I was just…intimidated. Wait, no, that’s way worse. Um… 

“Get your hands off my desk,” he finally said after what felt like ages. 

“R-right! Sorry.” I took a step back, trying to decide if I should have written my will before this conversation. 

“While I _could_ use my money and influence to help you,” he explained, his voice quiet, but in a way that made me immediately suspicious. “It wouldn’t work. She never listened to me before. She certainly isn’t going to start now. As you said, she isn’t fond of me.” 

“Actually, I said she hates you.” 

He narrowed his eyes, and for a moment, I thought for sure he was gonna yell at me. But instead, he just… 

…smiled. 

Uh oh. 

I crossed my arms. “Whatever it is… _no_.” 

He matched the smile with furrowed eyebrows, completing his classic Vlad Plasmius look of villainy. He really did look just like a comic book villain, stood at his desk with that cold smile, fingers pressed in a steepled position like he was plotting someone’s demise. 

"There _is_ something I can do." His voice was so calm, I almost dropped my guard. "But it requires your help." 

_He_ needed _my_ help? Talk about a red flag. 

"What kind of ‘help’?” I asked, like an idiot. 

"There is a ghost relic that I have had my eye on for quite some time that will easily do what you want,” he explained, opening one of his drawers and taking out a big manila folder, like the kind lawyers use. He started searching through it for something. “However, I can’t retrieve it alone, and you'd be surprised how many ghosts just aren't up to the task." 

"...you want me to help you _steal_ something." I narrowed my eyes. "Ain't gonna happen, fruitloop." 

"Ah, yes, I forgot about that persistent morality complex." He sighed, and I hate to admit it, but my stomach sank. He sounded so _disappointed_ in me. 

"Vlad, I...I _can't_. Last time you stole a ghost thing, you released the Ghost King! I’m not gonna help you start World War 3 just ‘cause you want a power trip!" 

“Oh, what a shame. This could have been a good opportunity for some good father/son bonding, too. I would have been so _proud_ of you if you’d helped me pull this off.” 

He would have been proud…? 

Ugh this was so stupid. He was clearly trying to use me. I shouldn’t give a ghost’s ass if he wanted to bond with me. He was a manipulative creep and an asshole. 

_“There are no ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ in real life, Daniel. Everyone in this world is just as capable of doing bad things as they are of doing good.”_

He’d told me that, that night on the roof. Was he talking about himself? But did the good even count if the bad outweighed it so much? 

“I’m…” I shook my head. “Nope. Forget it. This is a bad idea.” 

"And that’s your final decision? Oh, alright then.” He shook his head, looking saddened. I knew him well enough to know he was faking it, though. What he said next proved I was right about that. ”I suppose you should go home and do some damage control, then.” He smirked, a twinkle in his eyes, as if to say ‘you’re stuck, my boy. May as well do what I say’. There was no way this was the same guy I’d _hugged_ the other night. 

“Damage control? What are you-“ 

“The way I see it, you don't have a lot of time. If I know Maddie, and I do, I assume that by now, she is preparing to tell Jack your little secret, and enlist his help to create more of those weapons. That would spell disaster for you, I’m sure.” 

“B-but-but that’s not-I can’t just-“ I glared at him. “I can’t _believe_ you’re using this situation to your advantage! That’s so…oh, what am I saying? Of course I can believe it. All you care about is yourself and how powerful you can get.” 

“All I know is that you wouldn’t even _be_ in this mess if you were just a little bit selfish, Daniel.” He sighed and put a hand on my head, an action I was starting to associate with the way he showed affection. “But you’re a smart boy. You know the right thing to do.” 

I felt my glare waver. 

Maybe the relic or whatever really would help me fix my problem? Like obviously he wanted it for his own selfish reasons, but that didn’t mean he didn’t also want to get it to help me, right? …right? 

I looked up at him. His expression was warm. He’d changed his personality so damn fast. Maybe it was just the promise of power that brought Plasmius out in him. Maybe if I could catch him off-guard again… 

"Hey, what's in the folder?" 

It took him a minute to reply, and I decided to take that as a victory. He clearly hadn’t expected his plan to freak me out to fail. He knows a lot about me, but sometimes I think he forgets that works both ways. 

"The...oh, right." He held the folder out towards me to take, which I did. "I've been thinking about this plan for quite some time, you see." 

"Yeah, apparently," I said, flipping through it. " _Damn_." 

I’d expected, like, a couple sheets of paper about the relic. What I _actually_ saw inside the folder was a bunch of newspaper cut outs of what I guess were things Vlad thought had been caused by this relic. There were also some photographs and print-outs from the internet. I squinted. Wait, no, nevermind. They were photocopies of book pages. That made more sense. I doubt ghosts have their own Wikipedia. I scoffed. This guy was so extra. 

"So it's called the amulet of sub...subset..." I squinted again. Why was the writing so small? It was giving me a headache. 

"That would be _The_ _Amulet of Susceptibility_ , my boy," he explained. "Are you alright?" 

"I'm fine. Amulet of susce-what now? _Lame_ . I thought this was gonna be something cool, like a…a memory ray or something. Or something that changes reality, I don’t know. But _Billionaire Gives Land Back_ _To_ _Indigenous People_? The billionaire just did a good thing, I really think you're giving this amulet too much credit." I put the folder back on the desk with a huff. This thing clearly wasn’t going to help me with my problem. 

"Oh, not at all. That billionaire in question had purchased a lot of land from indigenous people, not to mention he was, and still is, very vocally racist. He never would have agreed to such a deal so easily.” He opened the folder again and tapped a black and white photo. When I looked closer, I realised the billionaire guy was wearing some kind of big necklace. “There's more information about that deal on the red sheet of paper at the back if you’re curious. My research is very thorough." 

"Yeah, no kidding. Vlad Masters doesn’t half-ass things.” I shook my head. “But I don’t understand. What actually… _happened_ ? Did the amulet fry his brain? Did it..." I felt my heart stop. "Oh my god, is this a _mind control_ thing?! _VLAD_!" 

"I wouldn’t call it mind control. It’s a little different. Calm yourself, Daniel." He made a 'sit down' gesture with one of his hands and I guess I was too freaked out to refuse. I plopped down in the visitor’s chair. 

He sat back down too, threading his fingers together like he was thinking hard about something. "Tell me, do you know what 'susceptible' actually means?" 

"It means..." Okay, look, I had no _idea_ what it meant. But I wasn't going to tell Vlad that. "I know what it means. Of course I do. I don't have to define it. That's what Google's for." 

He didn’t buy it. 

"In short, it means easily influenced," he explained, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache. "According to legend, if you can get your target to wear the amulet, they'll agree with everything you say. I assume that would extend to ‘your son isn’t a half ghost’.” 

I stood back up immediately. 

“It does WHAT?! NO! No WAY! NO!” I shuddered. “ _Yikes,_ Plasmius !” I started shaking my head aggressively, but my headache started to come back, so I stopped. “There’s no way. There is _no way._ You are _not_ getting your hands on something that powerful. _No_.” 

"Oh but it's _fine_ , my boy,” he continued, totally unphased. Had he been expecting me to react like this? “I know more about ghost relics than anyone. I can keep it from ending up in the wrong hands." His voice was so calm, yet so confident, that I found it hard to disagree with him. He knew a lot about this amulet and he was powerful too. If anyone tried to take it, he'd kick their ass for sure. "Trust me, it's a good idea.” 

I found myself sitting back down. Vlad was a few loops short of a fruitloop a lot of the time, but you couldn’t really underestimate the guy’s ability to get through to people. He didn’t need some dumb amulet. 

“That’s a great point and all, but the thing is, I _don’t_ trust you,” I admitted, narrowing my eyes in silent warning. “Like yeah, okay, you’re maybe not _totally_ evil, but you’ve still done a lot of bad stuff. If you do let me use the amulet, you’re only gonna take it from me afterwards and use it for an evil plot. Do you think I’m stupid or somethin’? I know how you operate.” 

“No-one works for free, Daniel.” 

“I do. All the time.” 

There was a knock at the door. 

“Enter.” 

A lady, someone I recognised as one of Vlad’s maids, walked in, placed a cup of tea on his desk and left. 

“Uh…what the heck was that?” 

“Alright, you caught me, I get a cup of tea brought to me every hour. It’s not a crime, Daniel.” He rolled his eyes and pushed it towards me. “You should have it. You must be parched.” 

I swallowed. Wow, yeah, my throat was super dry. How did he know? I picked up the cup and took a sip. It was really good. I think me and Vlad like our tea the same way. 

“Anyway, as I was saying,” he continued. “I’m not going to go through all the trouble of stealing this relic just to give it back _._ It would be a waste. You may waste your time with selfless deeds, but that isn’t how I ‘operate’, as _you_ would say.” 

I huffed. “Why isn’t helping your son _not die_ something worth doing it for? I don’t understand you at all, Father.” I took another sip. It burnt my tongue a bit but I didn’t really care. 

“Daniel, my boy...” He sighed. It looked like he was about to say something else, but shook his head like he’d thought better of it. “My point remains- Maddie doesn’t let things go very easily. You know that. This could be the only way to get through to her. You’re running out of time. Your stubbornness is going to get you killed.” 

I looked down into my tea cup. He...had a point. There was no telling what Mom was doing right now. Had she already told Dad? She’d been so angry. She'd called me really terrible things, looked at me like I was some kind of abomination. That look in her eyes would probably haunt me forever. 

“But Father, I...I mean I know I don’t have a lot of time, but this... this isn’t...” 

I looked up at Vlad again and my hands started to shake. I put the teacup down so I wouldn’t drop it. 

He sat up a bit, like something had grabbed his attention. I just kept on talking, hoping I’d eventually string together a complete sentence. 

“I just...don’t trust you enough yet,” I admitted, dropping my gaze. “One hug doesn’t undo all the months of...of being thrown against walls and...being chased by monsters and having my powers...zapped away from me. Not to mention the whole Valerie thing. Even if you _think_ you had good reasons, I still can’t find it in me to trust you. At least not with something this big.” 

“I...see.” Vlad fell silent. I’d caught him off-guard again, but this time it wasn’t satisfying or funny. I felt terrible. 

“I-“ 

Vlad shook his head. “What a pity. And here I thought you _wanted_ to trust me, me being your birth father and all.” 

“I-I do?” I blinked. “I mean I _do!_ But that’s...” 

“...easier said than done. I am aware. But we’re not going to get anywhere if we don’t try. And what better way for me to prove you can trust me than with a risk like this, hmm?” 

Dammit. He had a point. 

I hesitated. This was such a _huge_ risk, though. If my friends were here, they’d definitely be telling me this plan was bullshit. If Jazz was here, she’d be lecturing me about responsibility. Going through with this meant possibly making Vlad more powerful, and that...was never a good thing. 

“What...are you planning on using it for?” I asked, already not looking forward to his answer. 

To my surprise, he just smiled and ruffled my hair. I suppose my question confirmed I really was up for trusting him. 

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, my boy. Just focus on fixing your problem, hmm?” 

That meant he was going to do something bad with it, didn’t it? Oh crud. Maybe this wasn’t- 

No. 

I had to do this. If I didn’t give Vlad the chance to prove he could be trusted, I’d _never_ be able to trust him. Heroes were all about giving people the benefit of the doubt and all that. Superman totally would have done the same thing. 

“Al…right,” I finally said, uneasiness creeping into my voice. “I’m in. But don’t try anything funny, Plas. I still know what you’re capable of.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, my boy.” He smirked. “Now come along. We have a lot to do.” 

*** 

So that’s the story of how my dad and I began our bank heist. Well, a ruined-temple heist. Same thing really. 

Vlad’s plan was simple. _Too_ simple. He had the layout of this place totally memorised , even before we’d stepped foot in side . He’d been planning this thing for way longer than he was letting on, I guessed. But that only worried me. Not just because of the obvious risks here, but becaus e, with all his planning, he hadn’t stolen the thing yet. What had made him wait until now? Vlad wasn’t exactly a team player, so why hadn’t he done it himself already? Or had Skulker do it ? Why’d he need _me_? Just what dangers was I in for right now? 

“Are you even listening, Daniel?” 

I jolted. I’d zoned out. Crud. 

“Y-yup!” I lied. “Wait for your signal! Got it!” 

He sighed and massaged his forehead, before starting to explain his plan again. 

Like I said, his plan was simple. Well, sort of. We wouldn’t be taking the front entrance because it was practically asking for trouble. Vlad said the entrance had spikes that popped out the floor. That wouldn’t usually be a problem, because, well, we can _float_ , but this was a ghost temple. We didn’t want to risk it. Neither of us felt like being a halfa-on-a-stick today. 

There was another, window-shaped gap at the back, hidden behind some trees, so we squeezed in through there instead. After that, all we had to do was follow the trail of dust through the halls and keep an eye out for booby-traps as we made our way deeper. Vlad said we’d know we were getting closer when we started to see dried ectoplasm and human bones. 

Comforting fatherly advice. 

“Why is this thing in a random temple in the jungle again?” I asked as we phased through a suspiciously discoloured wall. The deathly silence in this place had been driving me crazy for a while now, but now I was starting to see way more human skulls than I ever wanted to. I was worried if I didn’t distract myself, I’d bolt the heck outta there. 

“Ghostly things don’t only exist in the ghost zone, you know,” he explained, turning to me. 

I was starting to realise that Vlad really loved teaching me stuff. He always got this excited glint in his eyes. Pfft. My birth dad is a total nerd. 

“This just so happens to be the second home of one of the most powerful ghosts in existence,” he continued casually. I nearly choked. Most powerful _what_? “She guards this place. Taking one of her prized possessions will be no small feat.” 

I stared at him. “You never mentioned one of the _most powerful_ _ghosts_ _in_ _existence_ was here ! Woulda been nice to know _earlier_!” 

“You never asked.” 

“How would I have known to ASK about that?!” 

“ **WHO** **DARES ENTER** **THE** **SACRED** **SPECTRAL TEMPLE OF** **HECATE, THE GHOST OF** **MAGIC** **AND THE SUPERNATURAL** **?** ” 

Vlad and I stopped still, staring at each other with wide eyes. 

“It’s been nice knowin’ ya, V-man,” I muttered. 

The walls creaked and groaned as the room began to shake. I squeezed my eyes shut and raised a shield in front of me, bracing myself for rubble to rain down on me. 

But it never came. 

I opened an eye cautiously. 

“What the-“ 

“Hecate,” Vlad greeted, his voice smooth, but cold. The rumbling around us abruptly stopped. “It’s been quite a while.” 

“ **If it isn’t the half ghost** ,” said the disembodied voice from before. Its ’ voice was calmer now, more feminine than I realised , but just as cold as Vlad’s . We were _not_ in for a good time. “ **Why have you returned?”**

I instinctively opened my eyes and looked around. I couldn’t see anyone. 

“I believe you already know the answer to that question, my dear ghost.” 

The walls around us made an angry groan as it began to fill with some kind of thick smoke. It was pure white, but freezing cold, like dry ice. Vlad was shivering. I liked it, though. I’d take cold over the stuffy heat of the dusty temple any day. 

**“Still you search for my amulet? After wh** **at you did the LAST time you were here?** **You have SOME nerve, hybrid!** **”**

“What did you do the last-“ 

“That’s not important right now,” Vlad snapped, raising his hands and conjuring some ecto-blasts into his palms. “She won’t give it to us without a fight, but she’s no match against the two of us. Let’s teach her a lesson.” 

“What? But she’s…” I looked around. 

The smoke around us was getting colder. Even I was starting to feel a little chilly now. I got into a fighting stance but didn’t prepare any attacks just yet. It really was just like Vlad to piss off a powerful ghost and make my life harder. 

Vlad hurled a bolt at the smoke, but the smoke just reformed. 

“BLAST YOU, HECATE!” 

I touched the whisp of smoke closest to me curiously and I found more of it clustering around me. It was alive, but it didn’t feel like a threat. Not every ghost was evil. I did forget that sometimes. The smoke settled around me, like it was curious about me too. 

“Um…hi,” I said awkwardly, trying to ignore Vlad, who was trying to beat the shit out of literal smoke beside me. “Are you gonna kill us?” 

“ **I** **a** **m undecided,”** the voice replied, the smoke circling me now. “ **Who** **might you be? I sense** **a great many** **wounds within you**.” The smoke settled around my arm. 

“Um…yeah.” I rubbed my neck with my other hand. “I’m Danny Phantom and…my injury is kinda why I’m here, actually. I was hoping your amulet thing could help.“ 

“ **For a** **millennia** **now,** **I have** **been** **lending** **my relics to** **the** **beings** **that I deem worthy of their great power. But your affiliation with the hybrid causes me to hesitate**.” 

“I think ‘affiliation’ is giving it too much credit? He’s…” I sighed and looked over at him. He was really attempting to tackle literal smoke right now. I wanted to die again. “He’s my dad. But his intentions are good. I think.” 

The smoke gathered against my cheek, like a hand was touching it. It felt…weirdly gentle? Hecate wasn’t like any other ghost I’d met before. If she was faking all this kindness, she was doing a really good job at it. 

“ **You** **r wounds** **need to heal,** ” she said quietly. “ **B** **ut** **manipulation is not the way to do** **that** **.** **You do not need to** **lower yourself to** **the same** **methods as your** **pa** **rents.”**

“What? But there’s no other…Mom isn’t just gonna-“ 

The smoke floated away from me. 

**“** **You have a good heart, Danny Phantom. Use it to f** **orge your own path.”**

“My own…path?” 

At the time, I didn’t know what the heck she was talking about, but as it turned out, that advice would end up saving me quite a few times. 

I looked over at Vlad again. The amulet was off-limits. He did _not_ look happy. I felt oddly relieved, though. I really didn’t want him to have that thing. Still, I didn’t know how to solve my problem without it. 

“We didn’t come here for ADVICE! We came here for the _amulet_! I DEMAND you show it to us!” 

The room startled to crack and shake again. I was gonna have a nice paralysing fear of being buried alive after this was over. 

“Vlad, come on. We should go. She doesn’t want us to have it.” As much as I loved a good fight, now wasn’t the time. Hecate was nice. She obviously had her reasons for saying no. And anyway, I had a feeling making her mad would be a straight up death wish. I could practically feel her power buzzing around the room. 

“That’s not for _her_ to decide!” he snapped , glaring at me . I felt a shiver run down my spine, but it wasn’t because of the smoke. “Either stand by me and help me take her down, or _stay out of my way_ , boy.” 

I stared at him. He was looking at me the way he used to, back before I knew he was my dad. Like…like I was a pest. Some bug he just wanted to squish because it was in his way. 

I was starting to realise what must have happened between those two. Vlad probably showed up, said something about how he deserved the amulet, and when she’d refused, he’d gotten mad and acted like an asshole. 

Ugh jeez. He was so embarrassing. 

“Vlad, no offence, but can you like...meet me outside? You’re just making her mad. Let me try to reason with her.” 

His blood red eyes narrowed. I thought for sure he was going to yell at me or attack me, but I pinned him with my best stern glare. He might be able to get his way with everyone else in his life, but not me. 

“C’mon. Trust, remember? Or was all that just so I’d come here and help you?” 

“...Do not leave here empty-handed.” 

His voice was quiet, but angry. I held back a shudder. This wasn’t how he’d expected this to go. And he blamed me for it. Awesome. 

He swished his cape and teleported out of there. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding. 

“That dude is _scary..._ ” 

Now that Vlad was gone, I felt a little safer, so I relaxed my stance. I really didn’t think Hecate was going to attack me. Not unless I attacked her. 

…Was this the first time I met a ghost that I didn’t want to attack? I wondered how the ghosts I’d fought before would have treated me if I hadn’t attacked them first. Ghosts like Johnny and Kitty probably wouldn’t have any problem with me. Huh. That was something to think about. 

“ **He has his own wounds,** ” Hecate suddenly said. “ **B** **ut he has allowed them to** **go** **untreated for far too long.** ” 

“Yeah, he’s...I don’t know. I think he’s scared of being hurt again.” 

My legs starting to ache, I slowly sat down on the dusty brick floor. Hecate's smoke settled around me again, floating calmly. She probably didn’t get visitors a lot, especially ones that didn’t want to waste her. I felt a bit bad for her. 

“ **Why do you help that man?** ” she asked softly. “ **Your goals differ quite a bit.** ” 

“I know, but...he’s my birth dad. I really wanna hope there’s good in him. I mean I’ve seen that there is, but...” I exhaled stressfully. “Ghost stuff does this to him. I’m not even sure he thinks your amulet would've fixed my problem. He just wanted me to come here and help him take you down.” 

“ **And you do not wish to 'take me down'?** ” She said it more like a statement than a question. 

“I’m a superhero. I only fight bad guys. And minor annoyances.” I smiled a little. “Chances are good, if you don’t like my dad, you’re not one of the bad guys.” 

The smoke rippled, like stones being thrown at a lake. It looked almost like it was _laughing_. 

“ **Regrettably,** ” she continued after a moment, the smoke going still. “ **I** **can not** **give you what you seek. I do not want my relics getting into the wrong hands, and** **your father...** ” 

“He’s gonna use it to brainwash people. I know.” I sighed. Back to square one. “I don’t want him to have it either, but I don’t know what other choice I have. My...” I felt the pain in my arm return as I thought back on that night. “My mom knows I’m a halfa and it’s all my fault. She wants me dead. I thought if I could make her forget I told her, then...” 

“ **...Then you could resolve your mistake.”**

“Yeah.” 

I felt the smoke waft through my hair, like she was petting it. What was it with people petting my hair lately? 

“ **Making her forget will not dull the pain. You will remember** **these wounds long after she has forgotten she caused them.** **All you can really do is accept your mistake and** **try to rectify it. Do not underestimate the power of your words.** ” 

The power of my words? She wanted me to have a conversation with _Mom_ about it? The very thought brought me into a cold sweat. 

“I can’t. She’s a ghost hunter. She’s kill me or dissect me or…” I felt the colour drain from my face. “I can’t.” 

There was a time when I thought my parents would never go that far. That, even though they’re ghost hunters, they’d still love and accept me, no matter what. But...my mom really wasn’t the person I thought she was. I'd learned that lately. She’s a scientist first and a mom second. Oh and I guess a liar third. I really couldn’t trust her. Had she already told Dad my secret? Jack, I mean. How did he react? Does he still wanna rip me apart molecule by molecule? 

I must have looked depressed, because Hecate suddenly hummed, almost like she was annoyed, and her smoke vanished into the air. 

“Um...hello?” 

Crud, did I scare her off? I stood up and pat my suit down to get rid of all the dust. 

**_CLANG!_ **

Something shiny and gold landed at my feet. It wasn’t an amulet, it was some kind of gauntlet or...arm bracelet? I don’t know. I don’t know anything about jewellery. My point is it wasn’t one of Jazz's. 

“What the heck...?” I picked it up carefully and turned it over in my hands. Now I was looking closer, I could see it was covered in some fancy runes or...something. The language wasn’t English. It looked ancient. My first instinct was to assume it was Greek, but I recognised some of the words, so maybe it was whatever language the Ghost Zone uses. On the front of the thing was a glowing blue gemstone. Touching it made my hair stand on end, like when you touch one of those old TVs after you just switched it off. All static-y. 

“ **I am entrusting to you my** ** _Short-Term Memory_** ** _Inhibitor_ ** **.** ” 

I gasped and nearly tripped over a crack in the bricks below my feet. I’d forgotten about Hecate. 

“Memory...huh?” 

“ **If you find** **yourself faced with a threat that you** **can not** **escape, p** **lease** **use** **this.** **I trust you will use it wisely.** ” 

And with that, I felt her presence disappear. 

*** 

When I got back outside, Vlad didn’t waste any time glaring at me. 

“Did you have a nice _conversation_? Please tell me you didn’t just waste my time.” 

“You really need to quit being such an asshole,” I snapped. I was reaching my limit with this fruitcake. “You were never gonna waste _literal smoke._ You were like that meme that’s like ‘ _old man yells at cloud'._ It was so embarrassing.” I hid the bracelet thing behind my back. 

He growled and grabbed me roughly by the front of my suit. “Listen here you-“ 

I narrowed my eyes and let the rings travel around me to remind him who he was threatening. 

“I’m not one of the ghosts that work for you. _Get the hell off me._ ” 

He sighed and dropped me. “This was such a waste of time. And we’re no closer to fixing your problem. Or mine.” 

“Please don’t compare your reason for wanting the thing to mine.” I held up the bracelet. “And it wasn’t a waste. She gave me this. It’s a.... _memory inhibitor_ or something. I think it’ll make Mom forget my secret. It’s not what we came for but it’ll do what I want probably.” 

He stared at it eagerly. I could see the gold reflecting in his pupiless eyes. 

“A memory inhibitor, you say? Interesting...” 

That improved his mood. He reached for it, but I hid it behind my back again. 

“Oh no you don’t. Hecate gave this to _me_ _._ You’re not getting your hands on it.” 

“Oh don’t be preposterous,” Vlad said, following me as I marched back towards the plane we’d used to get here. “I brought you to the relic’s location. The least you can do is allow me to borrow it.” 

Can you believe the nerve of this guy? Yeah, me neither. I wanted to punch his stupid face. 

“You’re not _borrowing_ it. ” I turned to him and stopped. “I’m still coming to terms with my mom hating everything that I am and wanting me dead . Can you _please_ stop making this about you?” 

“Daniel, calm down, I just think I’m entitled to-“ 

I felt something inside of me snap. 

“I COULD GIVE A CRAP WHAT YOU’RE ENTITLED TO!” 

I felt a surge of energy and everything around me, from the grass to the tree trunks, gained a new coat of ice. 

Vlad shivered. He really didn’t like the cold. 

“Why are you so angry?” he asked, like an idiot. He had the nerve to sound _annoyed_. “You have the relic, don’t you? Granted, it’s not the one you originally wanted, but it should still fix your problem.” 

Hey, word of advice. If you see someone in group therapy that looks just like me except he’s _far_ too drunk to be a fourteen year old...well it most likely _is_ me, it’s just his terrible parents pushed him over the edge and now he’s an alcoholic. These people are going to push me that far, I swear to Clockwork. 

I scowled at him. “Why are you like this?” 

“Like what?” He frowned and blinked his pupiless eyes. He didn’t say anything else, apparently waiting for me to elaborate. 

I sighed. Alright, buddy, you asked for it. 

“I get it. You had a tough time after your accident. But this obsession you’ve got with power is turning you into a _monster._ ” I turned my back to him again to continue walking. “I hardly recognised you in there. You looked at me like I was _nothing._ It'd be nice if you could at least _pretend_ you’d choose me over the newest magical thing of the week. Jeez. If you don’t want me around, just freakin' _say_ so. I didn’t _ask_ to be your son.” 

Vlad fell silent. Maybe something I’d said struck a nerve. Or maybe he was too mad to speak. I hung my head and started walking faster. I’d have accepted at least _one_ 'it's not what you think', even if it had been a lie, but he couldn’t even give me that. 

After what felt like forever, he finally spoke again. His voice wasn’t echoed anymore. He’d transformed back into Masters. 

“Daniel, I...I want you to know something.” 

“What.” 

“Although...gaining power is my ultimate goal, it’s not... that is to say, I never intended to...” He made a frustrated noise, but it sounded more like it was aimed at himself. 

He sounded so awkward and uncomfortable, I couldn’t really help turning my head to look at him. His eyes widened as soon as I did, but he quickly made himself look serious again. 

“Of _course_ I want you around, stupid boy, ” he finally said, crossing his arms. “I’ve been planning this day for _years_. Of _course_ I’m angry you interfered with the plan.” 

“I didn’t-“ 

He held up a hand to shut me up. He wasn’t finished. 

“Regardless, pay attention because I’m only going to say this once.” 

He put a firm hand on my shoulder and looked down at me, his cold eyes serious, but lacking their usual evil glint. He wasn’t trying to manipulate me this time. That alone made my words die in my throat. 

“I won’t pretend I don’t have agendas or that I don’t get caught up in it all,” he continued. “But if I gave you the impression that you aren’t the most important thing in my life, then I apologize. You have never been _nothing_ to me.” 

He held my gaze for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only like five more seconds, and then continued back towards the plane. 

“Now come along. We should return before your sister sends me any more messages accusing me of kidnapping you.” He sighed and shook his head. “Does she _h_ _onestly_ think I would make it so obvious if I did? Please.” 

All I could do was follow him as he climbed up the stairs to his private jet, my brain going over and over what he’d said. One part in particular really stood out to me. 

_“You have never been_ nothing _to me.”_

He’d said it with so much firmness, so much out of character sincerity. He’d even said I was the most important thing in his life, which, for him, is...wow, high praise. I think the threat of me not being around freaked him out a bit? 

As I took my seat by the window, I didn‘t look Vlad in the eyes. It wasn‘t until we were well in the air and on our way back to Amity that I was finally able to force myself to. I felt...well honestly, I felt really weird. I know that’s not very specific, but, look, I’d had a really emotionally draining day, and _Vlad The Bipolar Billionaire_ wasn’t really helping. 

He cared about me. He really, genuinely did. He’d said as much, and that alone was pretty big for him, since he’s not exactly known for his honesty. I should have been happy he’d said all that. Touched, even. But I wasn’t. Finding out he cared about me didn’t erase how he’d manipulated and threatened me, not just since I’d known him, but _just today._ Yes, I wanted his praise more than anything sometimes (yes, I know that sounds pathetic, shut up), but he couldn’t be trusted. He gets way too carried away with his stupid evil plots. His intentions weren’t always as good as I hoped they were. 

“Is something wrong?” he asked, glancing at me from my reflection in his plane window. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but then closed it again. I wanted to say, _‘yeah, my entire life is wrong, someone please end my suffering before I end it myself, please for the love of god’_ , but I had a feeling that wouldn’t blow over very well. 

So, instead, I just shook my head and turned my face back to the window. 

We weren’t even back in the state yet, so I decided I should probably use this time to take a nap... 

...with one eye open. 


End file.
